On-site inspections did not find evidence of workers smoking despite repeated complaints from residents, Labour Department officers have told a public inquiry into the fatal Wang Fuk Court fire. Wang Fuk Court seen in the distance on April 20, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Three occupational safety officers from the Labour Department testified on Tuesday before an independent committee investigating the inferno, local media reported . Lam Sau-ching, an occupational safety officer, said the department conducted a total of 17 inspections at the Tai Po housing estate, which had been under major renovation since mid-2024. She said the department had stepped up inspections to almost once a month due to residents’ complaints.
The inspections were unannounced to Prestige Construction & Engineering, the renovation contractor, Lam said, adding that officers would only ask contractor staff to accompany them during an inspection “if needed.”
However, inspectors did not find evidence of workers smoking, and the department concluded that the complaints were “not justified,” according to records shown during Tuesday’s hearing.
Lam told the hearing, “When officers say the complaint could not be justified, they meant that during the inspection, they could not see evidence for the complaint.”
Lee Shu-wun, a lawyer for the independent committee, said workers may have smoked even though the department did not find any evidence, to which Lam agreed. Hong Kong’s Labour Department. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The massive blaze, which killed 168 people in November, was “most likely” caused by smoking , the committee’s lead counsel Victor Dawes told the inquiry last month.
Lam also said on Tuesday that, under current regulations, smoking at a construction site is not an offence. Officers must also assess the fire risk at construction sites before issuing a smoking ban, she added.
Li Man-pong, a senior occupational safety officer, said that, under the proposed blanket smoking ban on construction sites , the department would no longer need to identify fire hazards before enforcing it. See also: Gov’t agencies ‘failed in their duties’ despite complaints about renovation project, ex-member of estate board says Murphy Yuen, chief occupational safety officer at the department, said authorities would rely on evidence submitted by residents to prosecute any worker found smoking once the proposed ban comes into effect.
The department will also look at “circumstantial evidence,” such as cigarette butts on the floor, to justify a complaint and strengthen enforcement, Yuen added.
He also said that to strengthen inspections, the department would learn from the Department of Health’s Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office, which enforces smoking bans in the city, and use drones.
Outdated certificate, wooden boards
The inquiry previously heard that the Labour Department failed to notice an outdated fire-retardancy certificate submitted by Prestige after the contractor replaced scaffold netting following major typhoons last year. Judge David Lok (left), chair of the independent committee tasked with investigating the Tai Po fire, and members Chan Kin-por (middle) and Rex Auyeung (right) at City Gallery, Central, on April 8, 2026. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP. On Tuesday, Lam admitted that the department did not check the issue dates on certificates and that this could be improved.
But, she said, officers from the Labour Department were not experts on fire-retardancy requirements. “We do not have relevant qualifications, and we won’t collect samples and conduct tests,” she said in Cantonese. “We focus on ensuring that the net will prevent items from falling.”
Yuen said the Labour Department could have referred to a list of approved laboratories provided by the Housing Department to check the authenticity of certificates, but his department still relied on the contractor’s integrity. “If some contractors are bent on tricking us, there’s nothing we can do other than refer the case to law enforcement agencies,” he said in Cantonese.
The Labour Department officers also addressed the removal of fireproof windows and the installation of wooden boards in the estate’s emergency staircases, which may have accelerated the spread of smoke inside the buildings during the blaze. A kite near Wang Fuk Court on January 30, 2026. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Li, the senior officer, said the wooden boards were useful as entry and exit points for workers on scaffolding, because workers are forbidden to climb outside buildings due to the risk of falling from height.
Judge David Lok, the chair of the committee, said Li’s account appeared to suggest a conflict of interest between workers and residents.
Dawes said the issue could be handled at a later stage when experts testify at the hearings.
He also said that four Fire Services Department officers would testify on Wednesday.